UAE defer prepaid iPhone 4 sales
The UAE based mobile network operator, Du has deferred sales of Apple’s iPhone 4 to prepaid tariff customers following an increase in people unlocking the handsets then selling them on the black-market.
The phones are subsidized by the company but can be sold with market-ups of 50-80% by black market dealers if they unlock or jailbreak the handsets.
According to Du’s COO, Farid Faraidooni, they became aware of this trend through the company’s network technologies, which detected a number of iPhone4 smartphones that had been sold by them and yet were inactive within the country. They also received information from abroad that smartphones sold by du are actually operating in neighboring countries.
According to sales assistants at Etisalat stores across Dubai, they have also been instructed to suspend sales of the prepaid iPhone 4, but blamed the decision on a lack of handsets to sell, not a ban by the company HQ. The iPhone 4 was launched in the UAE last September.
G-Mobile to sue Information Minister over bribery claims (Malawi)
Malawi’s oft-delayed mobile network operator, G-Mobile has stated that it will sue the country’s Minister of Information Symon Vuwa Kaunda after he alleged that the company tried to bribe him to get reductions in fines from the telecoms regulator.
G-Mobile has come under pressure to deploy its network and faced fines from the regulator for the delays. Kaunda has alleged that the company had offered to pay him US$33,000 to get the fines dropped – a claim the company strongly refutes. The company was facing a US$6.9 million fine from the regulator, which has also attempted to get the company’s license terminated.
According to the company, it is not their intention to fight public officials, but Minister Kaunda has forced them to think otherwise. They have no choice but to seek the protection of the courts of law since their image and name is being spoiled.
Minister Kaunda has also come under criticism in the country for not reporting the alleged bribery attempt to either the anti-corruption bureau or the police, within 48-hours are required by law. He now claims he will cooperate with any subsequent investigation that takes place.
G-Mobile was granted a license in April 2009, and was due to have launched its network by the end of that year. The regulator has imposed fines on the company and repeatedly extended the launch deadline. The company was given until the end of 2010 to launch its network.
MetroPCS releases quarterly subscriber numbers (USA)
USA based mobile network operator, MetroPCS Communications has reportedly ended the fourth quarter of 2010 with over 8.1 million subscribers, which includes net additions during the quarter of 298,000 subscribers.
MetroPCS added approximately 1.5 million subscribers during the twelve months ended December 31, 2010. Churn for the fourth quarter of 2010 was 3.5% compared to 5.3% in the fourth quarter of 2009. The company stated that the decrease in churn was primarily driven by the continued acceptance of its Wireless for All service plans.
According to Roger D. Linquist, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, the company is pleased with their fourth quarter net subscriber additions and churn results, particularly in light of the severe weather occurring during our peak selling season in late December.
Polkomtel sale details to be sent out to potential investors
If reports are to be believed, the proposal document for the long-planned sale of Polish mobile network operator, Polkomtel will be sent to potential investors in the coming days. The sale is expected by the end of the first half of 2011.
Polkomtel which trades as the plus network is a joint venture of Vodafone, PKN Orlen, KGHM Polska Miedz’, Polska Grupa Energetyczna and Weglokoks.
The company is estimated to be worth around US$1.6 billion.
As per the previous reports, Apax Partners, Blackstone, TPG and CVC Capital Partners are among the big private equity groups working on potential bids for the Polish company. A buy-out of the group would be one of Europe’s biggest private equity deals since 2007.
Vodafone has a right of first refusal to buy-out the other shareholders, but has indicated that it would prefer to sell instead.
Safaricom Plans to improve Access to Credit, Insurance
Safaricom Ltd., Kenya’s biggest mobile-network operator, is planning to expand the marketing of mobile phone-based banking services, boosting access to credit and insurance products for un-banked customers.
Mobile phone companies in Kenya are turning to data-content offerings like mobile money-transfer programs and broadband Internet to help offset expected revenue losses amid a reduction in call charges that began two months ago.
According to Betty Mwangi-Thuo, chief of new products, users of Safaricom’s M-Kesho will be able to apply for 30- day loans of between US$1.24 and US$62.15 from about December. The company is doing this for the bulk of M-Pesa subscribers who are unbanked, who haven’t had access to financial services at the next level. M-Pesa, Safaricom’s mobile money- transfer service, almost doubled its subscriber base to 13 million by the end of September from a year earlier.
Whilst about one-third of Kenyans doesn’t have a bank account and can’t get credit from lenders, 51% of the country’s population has a Mobile. Safaricom has 78.3% of the mobile-phone market in East Africa’s largest economy.
According to the company’s statement, Insurance products offered through M-Kesho for accidents, medical and funeral expenses will also include full life insurance coverage by about mid-2011 Premiums will be US$6.59 a year.
Maxis to invest MYR1.6 Bn for network upgradations (Malaysia)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Maxis Communications, the Malaysian mobile network operator is planning to invest MYR1.6 billion (USD458 million) for upgrading its infrastructure. According to Mohamed Fitri Abdullah, VP,Maxis’ Enterprise and Career Business Division, the proposed upgrades will be designed to accommodate the rapid uptake of data-centric devices. According to a report, the cellco’s W-CDMA network, launched in May 2005, had covered approximately 65% of the population at the end of 2008.
Abdullah also said that the company was delisted from Malaysia in July 2007. ‘We will make a special announcement on that,’he added.
G&D to set up SIM card production in India
Giesecke & Devrient (G&D), a supplier of smart card ICs and security chips, disclosed that it is readying a production facility in India to support the country’s booming market with Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards for mobile communications and with payment cards.
With a population of 1.1 billion, India is among the world’s fastest growing chip card markets. There are already around 65 million wireless customers with SIM cards in their cellphones, and that number is increasing by around 20 percent annually. The use of payment transaction cards, too, is growing rapidly throughout the country, at a rate of 35 percent per year.
G&D says when working to full capacity, the plant near Delhi will be the largest of its kind in India. Besides SIM cards for mobile communications, the plant will also be producing cards for other applications such as electronic payment and ID cards.
The plant is located in the Noida high-tech industrial zone to the east of Delhi and designed for an annual production capacity of more than 40 million chip cards. Output will also be exported to other countries in Asia. G&D stresses the production facilities will meet the demanding security standards called for by Asian customers and have the appropriate certification of network operators.
“The new factory in Noida will give us a very high degree of flexibility in terms of supplying our customers in India and Asia. This flexibility is particularly important where India’s mobile communications market is concerned, given that the country’s major mobile operators are subdivided into a large number of regional operating companies with highly varying requirements,” said Michael Kuemmerle, G&D group executive for cards and services.
G&D is the second-biggest SIM card supplier in India, and supplies the country’s major mobile network operators, including Idea, MTNL, BSNL and Bharti.
Source- http://www.eetasia.com
Technorati : India, Mobile, SIM
Ice Rocket : India, Mobile, SIM
